Pinterest testing Promoted Pins with retail brands, including Gap and Target

New York -- Internet scrapbooking site Pinterest Inc. is expanding its efforts to allow advertisers pay to more prominently display their pins, the San Francisco-based company announced in a blog post on Monday.



The company said it is working with a small group of brands to roll out a paid test in its search and category feeds. The group includes Target, Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Lululemon Athletica.



“These brands will help us test Promoted Pins to make sure they’re tasteful, transparent, relevant and improved based on Pinner feedback — so that Pinterest continues to be a great experience for everyone,” Joanne Bradford, head of partnerships, wrote on the company’s blog.



According to the blog, Pinterest is keeping the test small “so that we can collect as much feedback as possible, but we’re hoping to open it up to more businesses throughout the year.”



Pinterest now hosts approximately 750 million pinboards and 30 billion pins, according to reports.